Emulsified fuel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Emulsified Fuels are emulsions composed of water and a combustible liquid, either oil or a fuel.
Emulsions are a particular example of a dispersion comprising a continuous and a dispersed
phase. In the case of emulsions both phases are the immiscible liquids, oil and water. Emulsion
fuels can be either a microemulsion or an ordinary emulsion (sometimes referred to as
macroemulsion, to differentiate them from microemulsions). The essential differences between
the two are stability (microemulsions are thermodynamically stable systems, whereas
macroemulsions are kinetically stabilized) and particle size distribution (microemulsions are
formed spontaneously and have dimensions of 10 to 200 nm, whereas macroemulsions are
formed by a shearing process and have dimensions of 100 nm to over 1 micrometer).
Microemulsions are isotropic whereas macroemulsions are prone to settling (or creaming) and
changes in particle size over time. Both use surfactants (also called emulsifiers) and can be either
water-in-oil (invert emulsions), or oil-in-water (regular emulsions) or bicontinuous (also called
multiple or complex emulsions).

Contents

1 Applications

2 Theory

3 See also

4 References

Applications
Water continuous (oil-in-water) emulsified fuels are exemplified by the Orimulsion system and
bitumen emulsions. These are often described as a high internal phase emulsions (hipe) because
the continuous phase is around 30% of the composition of the fuel it is more usual for the
dispersed phase to be the minor component. Water continuous emulsions of very heavy crudes,
bitumen are easier to pump than the original fuel, which would require considerable heating and /
or dilution with a distilled product (kerosene or light crude) in order to make them easy to
handle. Water continuous emulsions of residual fuel, heavy fuel oils etc. which have a calorific
value and are used in industrial applications can also be converted to emulsified fuels, thus
reducing the need to use cutter fluids and improving the combustion emissions associated with
the inferior fuels.
Oil continuous (water-in-oil) emulsified fuels are exemplified by diesel (or biodiesel blended
fuels) and water emulsions,see: futrolaquapower.com These emulsified fuels were recognized in

Europe (France and Italy) and CEN workshop standard was established (CWA 15145:2004).
Other types of fuels have been emulsified contain between 5 and 30% water (by mass) in the
overall fuel emulsion.
Microemulsions of fuels have also been prepared. The type of surfactants and quantities required
to make these emulsion fuels sets them apart from other commercial emulsion fuels. These are
considered where safety issues (e.g. fire prevention; http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=3F8edPltVc8 [1]) or commercial return justify the extra costs (e.g. enhance oil recovery,
surfactant flooding; http://files.sc.akzonobel.com/bulletins/Enhanced%20Oil%20Recovery-Techbulletin.pdf [2]).

Theory
The main advantages to using emulsified fuels instead of the fuel itself are environmental and
economic benefits. Addition of water to the diesel process decreases combustion temperatures
and lowers NOx emissions. An interesting paper
(http://www.dieselnet.com/tech/engine_water.html#emu [3]) compares water injection and
emulsified fuels into diesel engines (marine and stationary engines) and discusses the emissions
and mechanisms involved. It concludes that emulsified fuels are singularly effective in
simultaneously reducing NOx and PM emissions. Another paper has examined the effects of EGR
and Emulsion Fuels [4]

See also
Look up emulsified fuel in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Emulsions

Emulsion dispersion

Microemulsion

Miniemulsion

Pickering emulsion

Water-in-water emulsion

References
1.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F8edPltVc8

 http://files.sc.akzonobel.com/bulletins/Enhanced%20Oil%20Recovery-Tech-bulletin.pdf
http://www.dieselnet.com/tech/engine_water.html#emu
Bertola, A., Li, R., Boulouchos, K., Influence of Water-in-Diesel Emulsions and EGR on
Combustion and Exhaust Emissions of Heavy Duty DI-Diesel Engines equipped with CommonRail Injector System. SAE 2003-01-3146.